this morning on "early today," foreign policy showdown. mitt romney gets serious about libya, syria, and more, but president obama hits him hard with a brand-new ad. we'll show it to you. unhitched. two philly wedding celebrations descend into cha as the attendees start brawling. and 48 straight. drew breezes into the record books. this is a big one. >> this is "early today" for monday, october 8th, 2012. very good morning to you, i'm veronica de la cruz. 29 days and counting. there is less than a month to go in the race for the white house, and right now, both candidates are on the road. while the president campaigns in california, mitt romney spent sunday in florida before his

major foreign policy speech in virginia today. nbc's tracie potts joins us now live from washington. good morning. >> veronica. good morning. let's talk about the speech. in it today he tries to draw distinctions. we've seen an advanced copy where mitt romney will now argue america is now weaker against our enemies abroad. mitt romney gives a big foreign policy speech in virginia today, but over the weekend in florida, he focused on taxes and president obama. >> he will ultimately have to raise taxes on middle income taxes by $4,000 a year. >> reporter: since last week's debate, which romney is widely regarded as having won, both sides argued the other was dishonest. >> he was a little taken aback at the brazenness with which governor romney walked away from so many of the positions on which he's run. >> reporter: their truth war now on tv. >> not telling the truth about mitt romney's tax plan. >> this was dishonest. >> i'm not in favor of a $5 trillion tax cut.

>> the governor knows his $5 trillion tax cut isn't too popular, so a few weeks before the election, he's trying to pretend it doesn't exist. >> reporter: president obama at a star-studded fundraising concert in los angeles sunday, heads to san francisco today with romney's poll numbers improving. >> they're looking very good. >> reporter: after the debate, reuters puts mitt romney within two points of the president. tomorrow we'll see both candidates in ohio. there's good reason for that. tomorrow is the last day voters there can register to vote. >> tracie potts in washington, thank you. mitt romney will deliver that major policy speech before noon eastern, but the obama campaign is issuing a preemptive strike with this new tv ad criticizing the republican candidate's past foreign policy faux pas. take a look. >> reckless. amateurish.

that's what news media and fellow republicans called mitt romney's gaffe-filled july tour of england, israel, and poland, when our u.s. diplomats were attacked in libya, "the new york times" said romney's knee jerk response showed an extraordinary lack of presidential character. >> the obama campaign sed this will be romney's seventh speech on foreign policy. venezuelan president hugo chavez gets to keep his job for another six years, but his re-election came by the slimmest margin ever in his nearly 14 years of power, winning just 54% of the vote. actor danny glover, a longtime supporter of chavez, was on hand for a day of heavy voter turnout. chavez's opponent, a former state governor, accused him of unfairly using the country's oil wealth to his advantage. chavez told backers the revolution triumphed and reporters were voting for socialism. well, talk about wedding crashers. in philadelphia, police had to break up a brawl involving almost 100 guests from two

separate wedding parties. one man died of a heart attack and several people were injured, and it was all captured on cell phone video. nbc's francisco reports. >> reporter: it was anything but bliss on this wedding night in philadelphia. guests of two separate wedding parties duking it out. >> i was actually up on the second floor watching. >> it was bedlam. it really was out of hand. >> very loud and very obnoxious. >> reporter: that's the voice of 15-year-old max schultz, a guest at the sheraton social site hill hotel. he witnessed the wild brawl and recorded it on his cell phone. >> just started punching each other and hitting each other. >> reporter: by the time philadelphia police arrived, they said 75 to 100 people were fighting. >> police came in and started clubbing people. >> reporter: officers say they were out numbered and called for backup twice. investigators believe the melee

originally started among members of the one wedding party but then someone reportedly from the second wedding party was hit with something and the situation went downhill from there. >> did they just deck the bride? >> reporter: at one point a bride is seen falling to the ground. several people were injured and one man believed to be an uncle of a bride died of a heart attack. police arrested several people for disorderly conduct and more arrests could come, on a night of celebration that disintegrated into chaos. francis coe, nbc news. now here's a look at some other stories making news today early in america. we begin with a california liquor store owner nearly killed on camera. the man's brush with death happened when a drunk driver crashed his pickup through the store. luckily the shop owner was only hospitalized with minor injuries. the driver left the scene of the crime, but was later arrested on dui and felony hit-and-run. next to florida, the spacex company launched a dragon capsule. three astronauts are awaiting the cargo along with one special

treat, chocolate vanilla swirl ice cream was also sent up that sounds good this time of the morning. there was a different kind of launch in new mexico. over 600 hot air balloons took to the sky at the 41st albuquerque international balloon fiesta. this year's event featured an array of colorful balloons and one dedicated to this guy, luke skywalker's dad. what's his name? darth vader. finally, 50 husbands and wives braved hazardous conditions at the 2012 north american wife carrying championships. calls raced through an obstacle course and the winning team from finland has won the world championship the past four years. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather forecast. the whole thing is not fair. i was reading online and they don't even need to be married. they just have to be man and woman, period.

>> wow. what's going to happen next? >> you and i could go. we could compete. we're like office spouses. >> good morning everyone. hope you had a wonderful weekend. warm temperatures. much of the nation experienced the first blast of the fall season. call it an arctic blast if you want, all the way down from canada. the cold air plunged down to the gulf coast. the jet stream doing a big huge dip, going all the way down through texas. on the back side of it, we have what we call a rex block which is a meteorological term where the jet stream is not moving much. we're waiting for the cut-off low. that will be the next thing to impact the weather in southern california. it's now spinning right in here, just barely moving. it's going to slowly drift to the california coast, eventually off point conception here. it could bring in a couple more clouds and showers to southern california including l.a. won't do that probably until about tuesday into wednesday. today looks dry everywhere. still cold in the inner mountain

west. still pretty mild in the desert southwest and holding on to the warm air, olympia back to seattle. another gorgeous day today. mid 70s in portland. actually burn through the clouds, a nice aft you, some clouds. you'll see increasing clouds, chance of showers middle of the week. doesn't look like any big pattern change this week for the west, not yet. one is lurking, though. but maybe not for another week or two. >> it's always gorgeous on the west coast. >> eventually lit get active. california's gas pain haves the governor fuming. a few spots from albert einstein can be yours if you have a few million dollars to spare. business headlines are still ahead. who is the new sexiest woman in the world.

last year was rihanna. did she repeat or is there someone new? you're watching "early today."

i'm veronica de la cruz. right now, one day after a israeli war plane shot down a drone that crossed into its air space, israeli forces swooped in over lebanese villages sunday. an apparent warning to hezbollah, which israel considers the prime suspect in the drone raid. coast guard crews went fishing for drugs and reeled in a major catch, seizing $35 million worth of cocaine in the caribbean and $2 million worth of marijuana tossed from a speeding boat near guantanamo bay, cuba. today a one-time cincinnati bengals cheerleader accused of having sex with an underage student will reportedly accept a plea deal. sarah jones allegedly had sexual contact with a 17-year-old while teaching at a high school in kentucky. and trending right now on nbcnews.com, did you know your

pets can catch the flu? in some cases, from you. new research finds a jump in the number of cats infected with both the seasonal and h1n1 virus. a third of american homes have at least one cat. nearly four in ten have at least one dog. and they too can be infected. who knew? and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow closed at 13,610. aftering 34 points friday, the s&p was down a fraction. the nasdaq lost 13. taking a look at overseas trading, the nikkei was closed for a holiday, but in hong kong, the hang seng dropped 187. bond markets are closed, but stock markets will be open for business on this columbus day. but don't expect much holiday spirit. investors are bracing for what's being forecast as one of the worst earnings seasons since late 2009. as always, alcoa will kick things off followed by jp morgan chase and google.

this morning economic worries were a drag on most asian markets after the world bank slashed its growth forecast for china and east asia. the imf is expected to do the same for its global outlook sometime this week. here in the states, california's governor has ordered early delivery of cheaper winter grade gas to help ease a shortage that drove prices to a record $4.65 a gallon over the weekend. the national average is just $3.81. around the world, honda is recalling just under half a million crvs made between 2002 and 2006 for problems with a driver side power window switch that could cause a fire. priceline.com says the cost of thanksgiving flights are already on the rise. the average domestic round trip ticket is now $393, that's up 3% over last year. and speaking of holiday spending, the national retail federation says a record seven in ten americans will celebrate

halloween this year. the groupest maets mates from costumes to candy, revel hers will shell out just under $80 apiece. here is a head scratcher. a letter written by albert einstein containing his thoughts on religion. he calls it primitive legend. bidding begins at a whopping, get this, $3 million. play-off baseball, a historic night in the nfl for drew brees. check this out. a monster pileup at nascar's talladega super speedways. all the cold airheading for the middle of the country will miss the west coast. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

very good morning to you. in sports, drew brees's record-setting night led the new orleans saints to their first win of the season. brees broke johnny unitas's 52-year-old record by throwing a touchdown pass his 48th straight game. it was a 40-yard strike to devery henderson in the fourth quarter. brees threw for 370 yards and four touchdowns to beat the san diego chargers 24-21. here now is an early look at all of sunday's nfl scores.

games of note, the colts scored a touchdown in the final seconds for a stunning comeback win over the packers. tom brady won the battle of the marquee quarterbacks, leading the patriots to a 31-21 victory over peyton manning and the broncos. washington's rg3 was knocked out of the game against the 5-0 falcons. and the 49ers became the first team in nfl history with 300 yards passing and 300 yards rushing in a 45-3 blowout against the bills. the new york jets play the undefeated houston texans tonight. now to baseball's national league division series. the nationals beat the cards 3-2. they take a one-game lead. and last night, the reds blanked the giants 9-0, taking a two-game series lead in. the american league, the tigers walked off in a 5-4 victory over the a's and a two-game lead. the yanks scored five in the ninth to beat the o's 7-2, going one up on baltimore. finally, at nascar's

talladega super speedway, tony stewart triggered a 25-car pile-up as he tried to protect his lead. only two of the 12 title contenders avoided the final wreck. race winner matt kenseth and second place finisher jeff gordon. believe it or not, take a look at this, there were no injuries reported. wow. liam neeson takes a cool $50 million and ben affleck does the right thing. your entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, we're going to tell you about an organization that's quite literally putting smiles on thousands of children in need. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this monday. no changes to start the week. a beautiful warm weekend that will continue today. we'll deal with the morning clouds in southern california coastal areas, especially the afternoon will be nice. warm in arizona, into the 90s. portland is 74. well advertised how dry you've been through out the end of summer and fall. looks like portland stays dry throughout the week. maybe by friday and saturday we'll bring you your first rain chances. if you're watching us on kntv nbc bay area news in california in nearby san jose, say endangered lemurs and swing like one at lemur woods at the happy

hollow park and zoo. that's your pacific event of the day. >> i'm in. >> are you jealous because you don't have a tail? >> i'm in for the event. sign me up. here are headlines in entertainment news. actor liam neeson took theaters by storm this weekend. the action sequel "taken 2" led the box office with an astounding $50 million haul, nearly double what the first "taken" film made in its opening weekend. elsewhere in entertainment, mila kunis has dethroned rihanna as the sexiest woman alive ak. finally, if there's anyone that you'd want to hit your parked car, it would be this guy. ben affleck reportedly knocked the side mirror off a car this weekend, but he left a note on the windshield before leaving the scene. this comes from portsmouth,

virginia where one child's life is about to be changed with a smile. the owners have a lot to be happy about thanks to operation smile. their son's cleft lip is being fixed free of charge. for the last 30 years the charity has done the same for over 200,000 children. the 6-month-old will need additional surgeries to completely fix the facial deformity. his family knows he's one step closer to putting a smith on his face. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

the hills of northern scotland have rolled into suburban tokyo. around 1,500 people strapped on kilts and bagpipes to take part in the 30th annual japan-scottish highland games. they competed in various traditional scottish activities, including caper throwing where players tossed nearly 20-foot-long tree trunk. the games help celebrate japan's strong allegiance with scotland. in georgia residents had a good reason to toast. people came together in the capital to celebrate the start of wine harvest with grape stomping and traditional national song and dense. the event followed weeks of bitter political divide for the country. many saw the care free celebration as a way to reconcile, at least temporarily, any political rivalries.

revel lers raised their glasses one last time. yesterday marked the end of the 179th annual munich octoberfest, the world's largest beer festivals. organizers say nearly 6 million thirsty people drank more than 15 million points of beer at the celebration. for those that missed the party this time around, next year's festival will begin on september 21st. are you writing that down? >> i would love to go, just to see the spectacle of it. i would drink in moderation, of course. >> just to wear leader hose en. time for a look at some of the stories we'll follow on nbc. a funeral will be held for 30-year-old nicholas ivie in what the border patrol agency says was friendly fired. he opened fire on what he thought was armed smugglers and was fatally shot in the process.

u.s. post offices will be closed today along with many banks and most schools in observance of columbus day. all day long you can stay on top of the latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight, be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news" and, finally, here is a look at what's coming up this morning on the "today" show. the man behind the kony 2012 video opens up about the movement he started and his very public breakdown. and legendary who guitar rift, pete townsend has a new memoir called "who i am." keep it on this channel for continuing news, sports and more. thanks for watching "early today," just your first start of the day today on your nbc station. have a terrific monday.